christerd

Hi all, Just bought a Red Star to a soldier No 1689792 awarded August 1945 if I understand right, he also got a Bravery medal in 1943 and a Combat service in 1945. I only got the Red Star and the award booklet, but enclosed was also this paper , which I think is some sort of citation ?? Could anyone help me with a summary translation of the doc ? I hope the pic is readable otherwise I post better pics in detail... Have a nice weekend all collectors all over the world Christer

Thanks Larry and Bill , fantastic to have met one of the few surviving pilots ! I think it must have been close to suicide to fly one of these in 1943/44 I have found a couple of more photos to my small collection , hope you enjoy First out a pic taken from behind a ME 323 , it could be anywhere , dosn´t look like winter ? My guess Italy late 1942 while supporting Rommels Africa Corps ... Next one is just great ! A Lorry being loaded inside a Me 323 , the men seems not to be wearing winter clothes so I also put my money on Italy maybe Sept/Oct 1942 ... Third one is a little mystery , I really don´t know what they have been loading, the have more clothes and it looks cold. Could it be some sort of half track ? Or maybe just a field kitchen But the pic really shows how big the Me 323 really was .

Not easy to find photos of these Gigantic Aircraft , but here is another one ! Taken somewhere in Russia , Christer

Great One John , Thats just the second one I ´ve ever seen It almost looks like a WW1 with a Swastika stamped out , very interesting thread . Love to see more examples of this rare variation. Christer

Aha ! Thanks Harry , interesting I wonder where the pic was taken ? Christer

Hallo Dana , nice when photos get to life . The photo came from EBAY.DE four years ago , and I know nothing about it. Your Great Great Uncle was in Reserve Infanterie Regfiment 251 1st Battaliion, wich belonged to 75th Reserve Division The Division mostly fought on the Eastern front but in late 1917 it was moved to France and was in combat on the West front to the end of the war. You could get a Cd with the history of the 75th Reserve Division on the net see: http://www.military-books.de.vu/ ( No ID12) I dont know if there is a Regiment history out there ? Anyone ?? Internet is fantastic sometimes Kind regards from North of Europe Christer

And the last one for today and the biggest one. MV Abosso was an British passenger ship built in 1935 at Cammel Laird & Co Ltd Birkenhead with 11330 t she was a big ship and a beauty. When she was hit by a torpedo NW of Azores 29th October 1942 one of the worst sinking of WW II begun. Günther Heydemann in U 575 fired 4 torpedo but only one of the hit, after 15 minutes he fired a another one and MV Barosso sunk after about 35 minutes. Of the 393 on the ship only 31 survived. A somewhat ironic thing was that on Abosso was a complete submarine crew ! 34 Dutch submariners was on the way to England to man the submarine Haai , only four of the submariners survived the sinking. Christer

Sinking a Hospital ship is always a extra tragic story and as we have seen it happened... HHMS Dover Castle was built for Union-Castle Line in 1904 but was made into Hospital ship during WW 1. May 26th 1917 she was sunk by UC-67 , seven of the men working in the machine room was killed by the explosion. All others survived the sinking.

Another new in my collection is S/S Banffshire , built in 1911 as S/S Clan Mc Rae (sounds as a real Scottish ship) 5058 grt , renamed in 1921 to s/s Banffshire and torpedoed by U 532 NW of Maldives Islands Sept 29th 1943. At the time of sinking there was 100 people on Banffshire but luckily only one died. U 532 was a type IX C /40 boat and survived the war to surrender in May 13th 1945.

Here is another ship and a real horrible disaster not known to many perhaps ... This postcard was sent from Senegal in 1937 to Sweden by a sailor on the French ship Brazza . In May 28th 1940 she was torpedoed and sunk by U-37 one of the most sucessful German Submarines during WW II. Of the 575 people on Brazza only 117 survived the sinking, U 37 on the other hand survived the war and was scuttled in May 8th 1945 she had then sunk 55 ships. Christer

Hello all , New ship coming in and new stories , many times sad ones but sometimes with a lucky ending. First out is SS Pakeha built in 1890 by Ropner & sons Ltd for Blue Star Line in London , 4321 grt 1918 was she remamed to S/S Broderick and on the April 29th 1918 she was hit by two torpedos from UB-57 under command of ObLt Johannes Lohs. Everyone ombord S/S Broderick survived but Johannes Lohs and his men wasn´t that lucky August 14th 1918 , UB-57 hit a mine and went down with all men. Christer

Thanks , next time I will look for von Ritchthofens Spoon

Hi all, my wife often says that I buy to much things , and once in a while i tend to agree I collect Imperial Orders , medals ,photos and documents but a Fork ?? Hmm , just could resist this one , a silver fork belonging to StabsArzt Alfons Bommes in Bayr 4th Inf Rgt Alfons Bommes was born May 17th 1881 in Drulingen Elsass. He started his military career as One year volunteer April 1st 1902, Inf Rgt 132 Sept 30th 1902 he was moved to Reserve. June 1st 1908 he again was in as a One year volunteer Arzt now in 8th Bayr Inf Rgt July 17 1908 he was UnterArzt in Bayr 4th Inf Rgt Nov 18th 1908 promoted to AssistenArzt Oct 23rd 1910 promoted to Oberarzt Jan 1st 1913 -July 31st 1914 he spent at München University Mobilized Aug 2nd 1914 as Batls Arzt III Batl 8th Inf Rgt Feb 16th 1915 he was sick , and returned to Rgt a month later in March 12th 1915 March 18th 1915 he was moved to San Komp1 , 33 Preuss Res Div. Dec 15th 1916 again transferred to San Komp 273 , 33 Preuss Res Div Stab Nov 7th 1917 now in " Oberkommando Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht" end ended the war in Sanitätsamt I , Bayr AK He also keep on after the war ! Oct 10 1919 he was in Nachtrichten Abtlg 21 and finally left the military Sept 30th 1920. In July 31st 1922 he was OberStabsArzt He was awarded Pr R.L.M March 12th 1911 MVO IV X Sept 28th 1914 EK II Oct 10th 1914 EK I April 1st 1917 I don´t now what happened after 1922 ? I wonder if he was called back later in WW 2 ? He was of course 58 years old in 1939 but a Dr would be needed I suppose. A long story just because I found a fork ...... Christer

Aha , Thanks ! So Murken is still a candidate Christer

Thank you all , does anyone know if this type had its own box ? Bigger than the usual ?

Found this on a Swedish auction , probably no one what is really was , the price was about 40 Euro and I think that's a bargain for a piece like this . And this is my first one in this class , now I have to hunt for a Swords one Christer

Very nice one ! Super low Number Christer

Super nice bar ! One of the best real ones I´ve seen for a long long time. This officer must have left some trace in the books ? Christer

Wonderful Crosses , Alan ! Here is my Hemmerle box MVK III x together with a MVK III x MdKr the boxes are very similar in size.

Hmm , Yes .... But Karlsruhe is and was a nicer place So I think he traveled there and walk through the animal park in June 1936......

And the last one , Weiss & Co . I got this one last week and that was the last of the makers, Now I´m going for the MVK III x mdKr boxes Hope you enjoyed them. Christer

No IV is Jacob Leser , I think that is one of the most common maker, Here we find the artistic lock plate again. Christer

Ok, here is No Three ... One of the most well made MVKs come from Gebrüder Hemmerle in München , strangely the box looks rather simple Notice the difference in size compared to the other two, and the plain lock plate , but whats inside is Mmmmm Christer

Next in line is Chr Lauer Another great lock-plate and similar size to Deschlers box . Christer

I thought I would show the beautiful boxes for the MVK , if I´m right there was 5 different makers for the MVK III so here they are with their respective boxes. First out is Deschler & Sohn from Munchen , the MVKs from Deschler is often marked with a D on one sword. Note the fantastic lock for the box , small but a true piece of art. Christer